Inhumane?

Ooh thats a tricky one...

I dont agree with the spikes, but at the same time I can also understand why the developers of the apartments have done it.
 
I actually have no problem with the "spikes".
 
As already said i can understand why it's done, not sure it's inhumane, sad that it's come to this sort of thing though.. skim reading though it's the comments about treating people like vermin in relation to the pigeon spikes, comments like that are what kick off the outrage
 
On the one hand you have the 'We dont want your kind around here' attitude, which I dont particularly agree with, but then trying to look at it from the developers point of view, do I want homeless people sleeping in the doorways of my multi million quid apartment building, potentially putting off buyers/tennants and maybe pushing the value of the property down and giving a negative impression of the area...


Ill stick with 'Tricky' :D
 
Have to admit when I saw this thread and the first few replies, I was expecting something far more brutal looking than those, given they are described as 'inhumane' - private apartments on that road are well into multi-seven-figure sums, so you can understand why the developers have done something to tackle the problem, especially given the location opposite a homeless hostel. I don't think they are inhumane, and I DO think the root causes of homelessness need tackling, but not sure some over-hyped outrage at a few metal studs in a doorway is the way to do it.
 
I think blaming the developers of these flats is rather bolting the stable door after the horse has run. Do I think the spikes are an acceptable solution to the problem - no. Do I think removing them will help -no. The only way to deal is to tackle the root causes of homelessness and whilst these spikes present a rather callous face blaming a very small symptom will not help with the issues
 
They are not long enough!:cool:
 
The one question we all have to ask ourselves is:
Would you want homeless unwashed people sleeping on your doorstep ?
I bet the answer is NO, I will own up to it being mine.
 
Gremlin said:
The one question we all have to ask ourselves is:
Would you want homeless unwashed people sleeping on your doorstep ?
I bet the answer is NO, I will own up to it being mine.
Click to expand...


This^^
 
It's not inhumane. You can see they are rounded in nature, enough to cause discomfort if you lay on them, but not sharp enough to impale and kill.

They can sleep elsewhere it's just to deter them from sleeping there....

My thought would be if someone were injured (a resident or visitor to the site) and tripped annd fell on the spikes, what the liabilty would be like as they'd cause a more severe injury falling onto them,
 
The bit in the report that mentions that the homeless people are being treated like pigeons make me laugh, I have to admit.

A lot of places these days use birds of prey to deter pigeons, so I can only imagine what would be used to deter homeless people...MASSIVE birds of prey, maybe :)
 
Some enterprising local down and out will soon work their way around that one. Flatten the top of the spikes with a rough file, place a suitably thick plank of wood on top and - voila - they've got themselves a bed.
 
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Stuart M said:
Some enterprising local down and out will soon work their way around that one. Flatten the top of the spikes with a rough file, place a suitably thick plank of wood on top and - voila - they've got themselves a bed.
Click to expand...
A few sheets of cardboard or cardboard boxes will suffice. I used to have to lay on far worse at work for years and a sheet of cardboard was all that was needed to get comfy. Not comfortable enough to sleep? I had been known to nod off plenty of times. lol
 
Inhumane? :rolleyes:
Of course, it's not. Forcing people to sleep on the spikes would be inhumane, but nobody's actually making anyone do anything.
All a big drama over nothing IMO . . . or more precisely a big drama about completely the wrong thing.

Getting offended and uptight about discouraging homeless people from sleeping in a residential doorway (which let's face it, none of us would want to walk out the front door to in the morning) has absolutely nothing to do with being supportive of homeless people. Energies would be far better spent on addressing the root causes of homelessness . . . but of course that isn't quite as easy and loses the shock factor of the pigeon spike comparison.
 
I'm going to be the odd one out and say that it's wrong but it's the wrong issue to be honest
Sarah put it better than I could but they should be asking why in a rich country like ours people have to sleep rough
I have been homeless myself when I was 16 but only for a week
I got a job and sorted myself out
 
I can't say I have a problem with it. I have done work with homeless charities in the past, and at the same time seen a lot of problems that SOME of them can cause, so I can see it from both views.

They are not innhuman, but the world would be a better place if there was no need for them.


Are the similar studs that they put on the edge of stone benches and walls inhumane to skateboarders?
 
I like the idea.....it's not inhumane as someone has already started that no one is being forced to sleep on them.....I wouldn't want some one lying on my doorstep, abandoning their blankets throughout the day, p***ing and s£:#ing in the immediate area......it doesn't solve the problem only the local government can do that..... I really do feel sorry for those in a homeless situation but there is no need for it.....there is help out there for those in this situation but a lot of homeless people choose the street.....it's a shame really
 
I don't really see what the issue is here, it would only be inhumane if they were forced to sleep there...but that isn't the case..

It's hard to tell but I'm assuming this is not a position that is actually pedestrianised as I would think that this could present a potential health and safety risk from being stood on if in a pedestrianised area, my reason for sating this is that while its not going to be capable of puncturing the foot by nature of it being rounded, there is a very real risk if stood in of breaking bones in the foot, a former gardener of ours once broke a bone in his for when he stood on a pebble roughly of that size that he didn't see on a path next to where he had been weeding
 
They're a deterrent so I've no problem with them
 
I'd be more concerned with safety. If anyone trips and hits their head on those, they're probably gonna be killed.
 
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